Halina
by Sesshy'sGirlLOL01
Summary: Between an overbearing Aunt and a Zombie apocalypse, things just can't be normal for Halina.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This story is a request fic written for Darkamy1.

Halina

Halina smiled as she walked down the bustling streets of muggle New Orleans. It was a wonderful day, a fact that she was grateful for considering the time of year. She found that she enjoyed walking through the muggle streets, something about their culture was so different to her own. Where the Orleans Wizard community was well spoken and almost uptight in their community,(unless you were to talk about those who hid out in the Bayou, but they were a different class of people entirely), their muggle counterpart was loud, bright, and full of music!

She was walking to a particular shop for her Aunt, Rebecca. The woman had had something of a fight with the Orleans Wizarding community and it was best that they stay out of that place for the meantime. So instead of being able to just floo to Madam Claudette's potion supplies, she instead had to walk through the town to a seemingly un-special shop on the corner of the street.

She stepped around a pair of people admiring some street performers and shook her head- it was one of many times of the year when muggles would flock to New Orleans, tourist time. She then noticed someone sneaking towards some unsuspecting tourists, obviously about to pick pocket the poor unsuspecting couple. Halina's green eyes scrunched into a glare and she muttered a spell, she watched with satisfaction as the thief flipped backwards and smacked his head onto the ground.

She let out a chuckle as the thief stammered something to the people whom he was about to rob before fleeing. She was glad that her Aunt wasn't there, the woman probably would have scolded her for using magic in public, but she was doing the right thing so what was the problem? Halina was constantly hetting told off for even thinking about using her magic when she was out, Aunt Rebecca was constantly worried that someone would 'notice'. How that was possible when they were so careful, Halina didn't know but if nothing else, the worry caused Halina to use her magic more- especially when she was alone, as a girl of eighteen she was an adult! And as such should be able to use her magic at her leisure.

Halina shook her head of her thoughts and carried on down the street her steps slow and relaxed as she headed to her destination. She probably should have been walking faster, her Aunt was waiting for her, but she couldn't really find a reason to care. It was a peaceful day and she wanted to enjoy it. Alas all good things must come to an end, however as she soon found herself in front of the shop. It was a very unassuming shop which looked more like an old shack than anything else. But Halina knew better. She opened the door and walked inside.

"Hello dear."

Halina walked into the shop and looked into the eyes of an elderly woman. The woman adjusted her thick framed glasses and leaned against the counter. She watched as Halina closed the door behind her and walked into the shop.

"Hello Madam D." Halina replied as she walked through the shop. The shop was very small and cramped. Shelves cluttered with obscure objects coated the walls and hanging from the ceiling was an arraignment of herbs, dried plants and shrunken heads.

"How's your Aunt, dear child?" she asked with an inflection in her voice.

Green eyes rolled as she walked to the counter. "You know her, she's somehow managed to annoy at least 5 ministry higher ups during her last visit."

The old woman chuckled. "That sounds like the old firecracker." She reached under the counter and pulled out a paper bag. She placed the bag on the counter and pushed it towards Halina. "She ordered a big batch today. Something big planned?"

Halina shrugged and took the bag. "I don't pretend to know what goes on in her head." She nodded in thanks to the elderly woman before leaving the shop. As she stepped from the shop's door her glasses slid down she sighed and reached up to adjust the spectacles. Only to find herself smacking into something solid, causing her to drop her bag and fall back into the door.

"Sorry Miss." A smooth, American, voice said and Halina looked up and her green eyes locked with his blue.

"I-I" she stammered.

The blue eyed dusty haired blonde smiled and gestured to the paper bag and its contents on the ground. "Can I help you?"

Halina jumped and scampered to pick up the objects from the ground. The male knelt down and helped her. She panicked as he paused upon looking at the objects. The paper bag had been holding an array of dried, dead animal parts and insects. Nothing that would be considered normal for a girl her age- or any normal person to be holding.

The man didn't say anything, instead opted to just calmly place the objects back in the bag with her. When they were finished he lifted the bag and they rose to stand.

"Here you go Miss." He passed her the bag.

Halina clutched at the bag and stared at him wide eyed for a few moments before snapping out of her stupor. "I- thank you."

He nodded, before putting his hands in his denim pants and walked off. Halina watched his back as he walked away. He looked odd, almost out of place in her little town. Normally she would shrug someone like him off as a tourist, but there was something about him that itched at her- he was not here for vibrancy that was New Orleans.

After a few moments she shook her head and continued her trek down the street. Why did she even worry about the man? It wasn't as though she was going to meet him again.

X

Long fingers pushed a greying streak behind her ear. Brown eyes narrowed as she gripped the knife. Clutching at meat with her spare hand she bought the knife down to the juicy flesh. She smiled lightly as the knife sliced the meat with ease. She continued to chop at the meat until it was thoroughly diced. She then put the meats into the bubbling pot on the stove. She smiled with satisfaction as the pot sizzled satisfyingly as the addition.

At the click of a door opening the lady smiled and reached over for another ingredient.

"Aunt Rebecca?" a voice floated into the kitchen.

"In here dear." The woman replied as she diced some onions.

Halina walked through the archway leading into the kitchen and smiled. She placed the paper bag on the hardwood table and stepped to the bubbling pot. She picked up the wooden spoon and stirred the pot. She then lifted the spoon to her mouth, only to feel something hard smack her hand before she could taste the food.

"Ouch!" Halina gasped and dropped the spoon into the pot. Her green eyes narrowed and she glared at her Aunt.

Rebecca lifted the onions and added them to the pot. "It's not ready." Her eyes crinkled as she smiled. "Were you able to get the things for me?" her eyes shifted to the paper bag.

Halina grumbled under her breath and clutched her sore hand- that had hurt! She nodded in response to her Aunts question. "Madam D sends her love."

Rebecca smiled and opened the bag to inspect it's contents. When she was satisfied that everything was in order she took the bag and made to leave the room. When she reached the archway leading into other parts of the house she looked back at her niece.

"Give it another twenty minutes, then take it off the heat and call me." With that she was gone.

X

"Could I have the salt please?" Halina asked as the pair sat at the table.

Rebecca pulled a face and handed her the salt, her lips pursed as her niece took the shaker. Halina smiled warily, she knew that her Aunt hated her using the salt. The Elder always claimed that it was 'blasphemy' to add anything to her cooking. Halina understood, the elder took pride in her potions and her ability in the craft, things she made were always perfect- it was just Halina liked her food with a bit of salt, it wasn't personal.

"You're mother liked to butcher my food as well." Rebecca quipped with a wistful smile.

Halina looked up to the photo near the table. The wall filled with moving photo's and portraits of her ancestors. In the middle were her parents smiling down at her. Lilly and James Potter. She had always wondered how they had died, but whenever Halina had asked, she had received vague answers from her Aunt, or even avoidance of the question all together- it was frustrating, at her age she felt as though she deserved to know!

"What was my mother like?" she asked softly while picking at her food.

Rebecca, who had just shovelled food in her mouth, gestured for her niece to wait. Once she had swallowed her food, she replied to the question. "She was such a bright girl, so clever, she could have been great- such a waste." She shook her head sadly.

Halina touched her forehead, the scar that rested there was a constant reminder of her parent's death. Not a day went by where she did not think about them, but what did she know, really? She knew they had both excelled in school and had loved her. But there are things that she feels that she deserves to know.

"How did they die?"

Rebecca rose from the chair stiffly. She lifted her bowl and turned away from the younger woman. "We have spoken about this before Harry." She used the name 'Harry', a nickname for the girl that had stuck from childhood, before swiftly making her way to the basement.

Halina clenched her knuckles, making them turn white. A nearby mug shattered as rage filled her. Her lips tightened and she rose from the table, the only thing stopping her from stomping down there and demanding answers was her own fears. Her Aunt was scary when she acted this way, the last time she had gotten to this state she ended up flooding the street- how? Halina didn't know, but it had stayed with her and now the fear stayed with her. However rage stayed with her too, she often wondered how long it would take before she completely snapped at her Aunt and demanded on no uncertain terms, to learn the truth.

With a sigh the girl walked to the broken glass and began to clear the broken fragments- if she didn't do it now, someone was going to hurt themselves.

XXX

Halina walked towards the park with a book clutched under her arm. Her Aunt had sent her from the house while she experimented with some 'highly volatile' components. Halina had asked to stay and watch, but the elder had shooed her away with the explanation that she wasn't ready to be around such dangerous ingredients and that she didn't want her to loose a hand.

Halina snorted at the idea, it hadn't happened yet, so why did she think that it was going to happen now? The girl had memories of her Aunt allowing her into the basement to help with the potions a number of times when she was a child. Sure Halina had never had the aptitude for the craft that her mother had had, but that shouldn't mean that she was banned altogether from the room.

She eventually reached her destination and sat down at a park bench that was underneath a willow tree. Clutching the book in her hands, she took a few moments to watch her surroundings. It was a peaceful day which bought a smile to her face. Just as she was about to open her book and read, she was distracted by the sound of coughing. She looked over at an old man who was clutching his handkerchief to his mouth. Another cough made her look over to see a lady coughing into their elbow. She shifted uncomfortably and hoped that she didn't catch whatever was going around.

She then went back to reading her book when she heard more people coughing. It was unnerving in its own way and she tried to ignore it. Ignoring the coughing worked for the most part, until someone walked past her and coughed causing blood to splatter on her books pages. Gasping she looked up at the person who began to apologise profusely. The words of apology fell on deaf ears however as Halina stared in shock. The woman who had coughed was a sight to see. Her eyes were red and bloodshot, her skin was greying and there seemed to be a slight tremble in her body.

Halina jumped from her seat and staggered back from the apologising woman. She hastily grabbed her book and fled. There was something about the person that was unnatural, whatever was wrong with her sent chills down the girls spine.

She continued to run until she founder herself crashing to a halt- quite literally, she flopped back to the ground as she bumped into something solid.

"Hello stranger." Halina looked up and gasped, it was the man- the man she had bumped into the day before!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"We just keep bumping into each other." The blonde quipped as she took his offered hand and he helped her to stand.

Halina felt herself going red as she came to a stand. She hastily let go of his hand and dusted herself off. It was then that she noticed her book on the pavement. Sighing she leaned down and picked it up. When she rose she noticed the man looking at her with mirth filled eyes.

"I- thank you." She scratched her neck nervously.

"It's alright Miss." He looked past her head briefly. Something had caught his eye. "Well, be careful." He nodded at her before saying his goodbyes and walking away.

Halina watched as he walked away. He seemed to be heading into the park that she had just fled. She debated telling him about the sick people she had encountered. As he got further away she decided. "Hey!" she called out to him and quickly walked in his direction.

He turned and looked at her, confusion on his face. "Yes?"

She let out a puff as she reached him and pointed to the park. "I just came from there. There were some really sick people, one of them started coughing blood."

 _That_ caught his attention. "Blood?" he repeated.

She nodded. "Yes. I wouldn't go there."

He eyed her for a few moments. "Thank you for the warning." he reached into his pocket and pulled out a phone. "Have a safe day." He waved her goodbye and headed back to the park. Halina watched as he dialled a number and placed the phone to his ear.

Halina sighed and decided to go home.

X

Rebecca passed her niece a hot cup of tea as she sat down beside her at the table. "How was the park?" she asked as she spooned sugar into her own cup.

Halina dunked her teabag into the cup before sighing. "Is there a flu going around?"

Her question caused Rebecca to raise a brow. "What do you mean?" she fingered the rim of her mug.

Halina shrugged then took a sip of the warm liquid. She loved tea, it always managed to calm her nerves, Rebecca would always tell her the reason was because she was British to the bone. She supposed she had to get something from her parents. "When I was at the park today, people were… coughing, some lady even came to me and coughed up a little bit of blood."

Rebecca froze, her fingers clenched around the mugs handle. "Did any of the blood get on you?" when Halina did not answer within one second of the question she repeated herself, this time her voice sounding almost panicking. "Did any of the blood get on you?" she leaned closer to her niece, inspecting her from head to toe with her eyes.

Halina shifted backwards and held her arms out to block her Aunt. "No, I mean some did get on my book but I'm fine!"

"Where is the book?" Rebecca asked and snatched the book away as her Niece passed it to her. "Thank you dear." She clutched the book under her arm and raced down to the basement.

"Just once.. once… I would like to know what the heck is going on." Halina brushed her hair out of her eyes and leaned back into her chair with a sigh. It was frustrating being her sometimes. Something was always going on and she was always out of the loop.

A rapping at the kitchen window jumped her from her thoughts. Rising from her chair she opened the window to let an owl in. She took the parcel from the bird and offered the owl some nibbles. She snatched her hand back as the bird took the food, and some of her finger. Glaring at the bird she ran her finger under some cold water, watching as small trickles of blood ran into the sink and down the drain.

Taking the parcel from the bench she headed to the basement. She didn't even need to look at the note on the package, it was for Rebecca, they always were for Rebecca. If and only if she were to get mail, it was letters from old school friends.

She knocked at the door and waited when she heard her Aunt tell her to 'come in' she opened the door and walked down the stairs into the dark room.

The basement was very much like a dungeon in the sense that it was dark and cold. Candelabras lit the room and along the walls were old bookshelves filled with large dusty books and ceramic jars with ingredients listed on their fronts. Her Aunt stood at the table in the centre of the room. A black cauldron sat at the table with ingredients and cooking utensils surrounding it.

"What is it?" Rebecca asked as she carefully cut eyes out of a dead newt.

Halina held out the package for her which her Aunt took and hastily unwrapped it. Haliana leaned over and watched as she took out the ingredients. Now Halina was not very good at potions, in fact she was terrible at it so she was unable to note most of the ingredients, she was however able to identify goats gall bladder and raspberry leaf.

"This will be very important in the coming days." Her Aunt replied cryptically.

Her Aunts vague response caused Halina to frown and clench her fist. Why couldn't her Aunt just tell her what was going on? I wasn't as though Halina had no magical aptitude; she deserved to know what was going on. This wasn't fair. "Why can't you just tell me what's going on?" she pressed.

"All in good time my dear." Rebecca sang while dropping the newt eyes into the simmering cauldron.

Halina glowered at her how dare Rebecca just think that it was okay for her not to be told anything. One would assume that you could not just leave your niece in ignorance. It was just getting old and she was, to be honest, completely over it. A jar on the shelf behind her shattered as she felt her magic flare with her anger.

Rebecca glanced up from her work and tutted under her breath. "Now child, I would much prefer that you did not come in here and break things. Be a dear and go away. There are many other things you could be doing right now."

Halina blanched and staggered back as though she had been struck. "You- wha- I"

Rebecca shooed her niece with a wave of her hand and hovered over the desk and went back to paying attention to her brew. Halina remained still for a dew moments, gaping at her Aunt. Her mouth was open to say something, anything, but no sound came. No words came. She eventually left with a huff.

X

"I just can't believe her!" Halina groaned and dramatically threw her face into her hands. "What am I? just some idiot she keeps around the house?"

"Oh dear, don't say that she loves you." Madam D passed her a cup of tea.

Halina angrily sipped her tea. Her fingers clenched around that handle of her mug, making her knuckles go white. She sipped her tea again and allowed the warm liquid to go down her throat, she took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves. She was full of rage, absolute rage. But she was allowing the tea to calm her.

"Why does she do this to me?" she snapped, grabbing a nearby biscuit to dunk into her drink.

Madam D smiled her warm, motherly smile. "She's just a tad eccentric Dear." The older woman poured herself a cup of tea. "I've known her a long time and I've never seen her behave any differently." She chuckled as she remembered the old times. "Just take her with a grain of salt."

The younger girl adjusted her glasses and took another sip of her tea. "Do you want to live with her?" she made a gesture with her hands. "You can stay with her and I'll stay in the shop."

Madam D let out a chuckle and her eyes twinkled. "I tried that once dear, there's a reason your Aunt sends you down to sort out her ingredients." She reached over and took a biscuit out of the bowl on the table.

Halina let out a snort. "You're the nicest person I know, if she can't deal with you, what hope do I have?" she followed the elders que and took herself a biscuit.

The older woman smiled and leaned back in her chair. "Just give it time dear. Give it time."

Halina huffed and dunked her biscuit. A spasm took her face as she looked at her now wet cookie. "I'm over eighteen years old and I don't even know how my parents died. I'm constantly in the dark about things. I want to know." She gestured helplessly. "Even if I were left in the dark about everything else in my life, I just want to know how all of this came to be."

The Older woman looked down at the younger with a frown. She knew that Rebecca could be difficult at times, and that she kept a magnitude of things from the girl, but she had never thought that Rebecca would hold the information about the girls parents from her. That was just cruel. Especially given that almost everyone in the magical world knew about Halina and her parents.

Madam D spent a few moments in silence as though she were coming to a decision. She eventually nodded to herself and reached over to touch the youths hand.

"I'll tell you." She pulled back and reached for her drink. "I'll tell you about your parents if you like."

Halina felt her heart stop and her eyes widened. Had Madam D just offered? She inched forwards on her chair and nodded hastily, her heart beating madly against her chest. Her hands clenched around her mug and they gave a slight tremble with excitement.

Madam D fingered the rim of her mug as she thought of where to begin the story. There were many different places that she could start, it was a convoluted story with multiple beginnings and each ending was vague and unfinished. Eventually she thought of a place to start and opened her mouth to begin.

Alas every well played plan has a hitch. For just as she was about to tell her story a red envelope shot through the room and placed its unhappy self on the table in front of Madam D.

Things were silent for what seemed to be the longest time. Madam D let out a small chuckle which turned into explosive laughter. She held her stomach as it jiggled with her laughter. "Halina be a dear and go home." She said between laughter.

Confusion turned into rage as Halina realised what was happening. "That bitch." She murmured rising from her seat. "I'm going to-"

"Now dear, don't finish that sentence." Madam D smiled.


End file.
